Rule of Law: listen to the citizens!

Almost eight out of ten Europeans believe that sticking to democratic principles must be a precondition for receiving EU money, according to the latest poll carried out for the European Parliament. The EPP Group calls on the Council to acknowledge this striking reality in the ongoing negotiations on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).

Petri Sarvamaa MEP, Parliament’s negotiator for the rule of conditionality in the MFF, said: “I trust the concept of rule of law is as important for the Member States as it is for the Parliament and Europeans. But if this is not enough, numbers might sound more persuasive for the Member States. If almost 80% of their citizens wish to condition the spending of the money they pay as taxes on the adherence of the governments to the rule of law, they should listen.”

Roberta Metsola MEP, the EPP Group’s Spokeswoman for Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, added: “It would be a mistake to ignore this study. Conditionality on rule of law funds is a key point for the European Parliament and we will keep pushing it forward. The rule of law is the pillar upon which every one of our treaties is based. It should not be ground-breaking to ask Member States to abide by the treaties they all signed up to when they joined the EU in order to receive EU funds. Values matter.”